It is well recognized that the mounting of large truck and bus tires on a rim using one or more separate retaining rings, referred to as side rings or locking rings, is a hazzardous operation which can result in personal injury or death to nearby personnel if the tire bead and retaining ring should be blown off of the rim during inflation of the tire. This occasionally happens when a retaining ring is inaccurately engaged with the annular flange carried by the rim to engage and lock one side of the retaining ring while the tire bead is being forced by inflation against the other side of the ring.
The prior art provides a number of different safety clamps intended to confine the tire and retaining ring parts in the event of an explosive blowing out of the assembly, but many of these clamps are time consuming and/or awkward to apply and remove with the result that workmen tend to avoid their use, thereby assuming unnecessary risks.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,476,209 to Monheit shows a clamp which is effective, but which is cumbersome and slow to apply since its application or removal requires the manual manipulation of multiple screws.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,710,054 to Merriman and 2,881,825 to Engstrom show effective clamps, but these clamps are awkward to apply, requiring a certain amount of manual dexterity and requiring the use of both hands to spread the legs of the clamp and fit the locking pin a hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,318 to Conger is a simple structure, but it requires lifting of the tire assembly off the ground to place part of the clamp beneath the tire, followed by fitting the other part on top of the assembly, a time consuming operation.